Geology Olympiad in the Czech Republic
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M USEOLOGICA BRUNENSIA ZPRÁV Y/NEWS MUSEUM WORK WITH GIFTED SCHOOLCHILDREN: GEOLOGY OLYMPIAD IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC JITKA PEŠKOVÁ – LUCIE JAGOŠOVÁ https://doi.org/10.5817/MuB2019-1-6 One of important tasks of museums is to educate the visitors and wake their interest in topics presented in museum exhibitions. The question is whether the museums are able to offer an extension to formal education in schools and become herewith their partner. The schoolteachers are trained pedagogues in individual disciplines but they rarely have expert knowledge in these special areas (for example in geology). Moreover, the extent and usability of school collections for educational purposes beyond the scope of regular teaching are considerably Fig. 1: Written test – the first part of Geology Olympiad. Photo: Museum in South Bohemia in České Budě- limited. Museums have much to jovice, 2017. offer to the schools; the extension of normal teaching mainly consists in the possibility of object learning, in which the museums find no serious rival due to their extensive collections. They also can offer a greater support to schoolchildren who are gifted in disciplines represented in museums. Museums thus play an important role in the field of object learning due to their collection items, and this fact must be shown in a transparent view. A narrower cooperation of museums and schools in the Czech Republic, which goes beyond the scope of usual museum education programmes for schoolchildren, is now successfully realised, for example in the form of the Geology Olympiad (hereinafter GO). It is a subject competition for primary and secondary schoolchildren, testing their knowledge in geological disciplines. The aim of the competition is to enhance the Fig. 2: Practical work with products of inanimate nature. Photo: Museum in South Bohemia in České teaching about inanimate nature, Budějovice, 2017. 32 2019 /08 /01 students are asked to determine individual samples. Regional rounds of the competition are co-organised by the Committee for Public Relations and Museum Pedagogy of the Czech Association of Museums and Galleries, which coordinates the participating museums and represents a communication bridge between the museums and the guarantor – Masaryk University. Geologists in cooperation with museum pedagogues organise the regional rounds of the competition in individual museums and act as their professional guarantors. Fig. 3: Testing knowledge using geological museum collections. Photo: Museum in South Bohemia in České The main organisers in individual Budějovice, 2017. regions are regional or city museums.2 search for talented schoolchildren Today the Geology Olympiad is The first national round based on and systematically support already organised in the whole this concept has taken place in and develop their professional Czech Republic. The structure Říčany near Prague in 2017, and education in this area.1 The is the same as in most of the the second national round was initiator and author of the idea to other Olympiads; it is composed organised by the Faculty of Science, organise the GO in museums was of the school, district, regional Masaryk University in Brno, which the geologist Petr Rajlich, who and national rounds and the provides for organisation of this began to organise the Geology competition is held in two event every year. A great success in Olympiad in the Museum of South categories: category A for primary 2018 was the participation of two Bohemia in České Budějovice schools and category B for winners of the GO national round since 2015, in cooperation with secondary schools. The announcer in the international competition, the museum pedagogue Jitka of the GO is the Masaryk University which was held in Thailand.3 Pešková. In the middle of 2016, in cooperation with the Czech the associate professor Rostislav Geological Survey, which also are The success of the project is Melichar from the Faculty of professional guarantors of the GO. documented by the increasing Science of the Masaryk University interest of students in this in Brno summoned the meeting The school and district rounds are competition. The number of pupils of a team, who began to put the held in the form of an electronic and students participating in the idea of organising the GO in all test, which is secured by the first GO was 378, in 2018 already administrative regions of the Czech Department of Geological Sciences, 730 participants were registered, Republic into practice. The main Faculty of Science, Masaryk aim was to add the GO to the other University, under the direction of Olympiads, in which the pupils Ass. Prof. Rostislav Melichar. 2 Following museums are involved: Museum of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Museum and students participate in various of West Bohemia in Plzeň, Ústí nad Labem City disciplines. Regional rounds are held in Museum, Mariánské Lázně City Museum, Museum museums with relevant collections, of the Vysočina Region in Jihlava, Museum of Southeast Moravia in Zlín, Silesian Museum in this case with geological in Opava, Regional Museum in Olomouc, East 1 The thematic scope of GO is primarily oriented materials, and with experts in the Bohemian Museum in Pardubice, Museum of East on mineralogy, petrography, palaeontology, Bohemia in Hradec Králové, Museum of North historical geology, geology of mineral deposits, given discipline. Regional rounds Bohemia in Liberec, and Museum of the Bohemian hydrogeology, engineering geology, environmental therefore have a high professional Karst in Beroun. geology, regional geology and dynamic geology. level. They are composed of two 3 IESO 2018 Kanchanaburi Thailand: See Co je Geologická olympiáda. In Geologická 12th International Earth Science Olympiad [online]. olympiáda [online]. Česká geologická služba, 2018 parts: a written test, and practical IESO, 2018 [accessed 2019-04-29]. Available from [accessed 2019-04-11]. Available from www: work with products of inanimate www: <https://ieso2018.posn.or.th/message. <https://www.geologicka-olympiada.cz/o- ht m l>. olympiade>. nature, where the pupils and 33 M USEOLOGICA BRUNENSIA and in 2019 nearly 900 pupils and JITKA PEŠKOVÁ students are taking part. Charlie Karlín, Prague; museology graduate in the Department of The museums with their Archaeology and Museology, involvement in this project not Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, only help to promote the geological Brno, Czech Republic science, but also demonstrate the potential of cooperation with LUCIE JAGOŠOVÁ schools. Museum is a suitable place for learning, where the students Department of Archaeology and have a unique opportunity to meet Museology, Faculty of Arts, experts. Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Thanks to this form of cooperation, museums in particular regions become respected institutions in the field of non-formal education, which is inevitable for the school teaching and for educational work with gifted schoolchildren. This cooperation opens for the schools new possibilities of using both the commonly accessible permanent and temporary exhibitions, and the collection objects stored in depositories. Most museums currently prepare educational programmes which are associated with Czech curricular documents for individual levels and types of schools – Frame Educational Programmes.4 These programmes are helpful in better understanding and fixing of topics taught in schools and in the development of key competences. They support the process of critical thinking, development of communication skills, working with information and asking questions. It is an area between formal and non-formal education, where the use of the educational potential of museums wipes out the boundary between two seemingly different worlds. Jitka Pešková – Lucie Jagošová 4 National curricula. In National Institute for Education [online]. Prague, Czech Republic, 2011– 2019 [accessed 2019-04-11]. Available from www: <http://www.nuv.cz/our-work/framework>. 34 .